Many mobile devices, such as smart phones, have been enabled with functionality for communicating with others using any of several different techniques. For example, a mobile device may be used for communicating with another via a voice call, an email, an instant message, a text message, or a social networking service (e.g., FACEBOOK® social networking service). A smart phone may include an address book application containing contacts, and one of the contacts may be selected for communication through one of the communication techniques.
In an example of communicating with a contact, the user may open the address book application and select one of the contacts for communication. Next, the device may present options for communicating with the selected contact. The user may select to initiate a telephone call, an email communication, an instant message, or a text message communication with the selected contact. If, for example, the selected contact does not answer the telephone call, the user may leave a voicemail message on an answering service, or disconnect the call. Afterwards, the user may attempt a different telephone number or communication technique for reaching the selected contact. To again try to reach the contact, the user must select the contact and then select a different communication technique for communicating with the contact. This process can be burdensome to users, especially in the case of emergency situations when it is desired to reach the contact as soon as possible. Similarly, in the case of attempting to reach multiple contacts, this process can be even more burdensome to users, because the user must separately select each contact. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved systems and methods for initiating communications with contacts.